Section Four

Responding to The Opponents' Main Evidences They are Fourteen Evidences The First Evidence The statement of Allāh the Almighty: ﴿وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللهُ فَأُوْلَئكَ هُمُ الكَفِرُونَ﴾ "And whoever does not judge by what Allāh has revealed - then it is those who are the disbelievers." [Al-Mā'idah 44] If it is said: the ruler who does not govern according to what Allāh has revealed is a disbeliever, as the Āyah explicitly states: The response: The disbelief mentioned here refers to minor disbelief (kufr aṣghar), not major disbelief (kufr akbar). The proof for this is based on three points: 1. The consensus of Ahlus-Sunnah that the Āyah is not to be taken in its apparent meaning, as previously mentioned (p. #). 2. The interpretation of Ibn ’Abbās, as previously mentioned (p. #). 3. The interpretation of some of the Tabi’ūn (1); the companions of Ibn ’Abbās, may Allāh be pleased with him and have mercy upon them, as mentioned earlier (p. #), and there is no known opposition from their contemporaries. Furthermore, if it is said that, in general, when the term "Kufr" is used without qualification/limitation, it refers to major disbelief: The response: This argument holds no weight, as there is clear evidence that the term "Kufr" in this Āyah refers to minor disbelief, as demonstrated by the interpretation of Ibn ’Abbas, may Allāh be pleased with him, and some of his companions, may Allāh have mercy on them. Additionally, if it is said that Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allāh have mercy upon him, conducted an extensive study of the term "Kufr" defined with "أل" (the definite article), and found that it only refers to major disbelief. He said: «والكفرُ المُعَرَّفُ: ينصرف إلى الكفر المعروف، وهو المخرج عن الملة» "The term 'kufr' when defined refers to the well-known disbelief that removes a person from the fold of Islam." [Sharh al-Umdah, Section on Prayer, p. 82] The response: His study, may Allāh have mercy upon him, focused on the term 'kufr' (disbelief) as a noun, while the Āyah uses the term 'kāfir' (disbeliever) in the active participle form. There is a difference between the two: the noun 'kufr' refers to the action itself, while the active participle 'kāfir' refers to both the action and the doer. That is why Ibn Taymiyyah himself acknowledged that interpreting the disbelief in this Āyah as minor disbelief was the position held by some of the scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah, and indeed by the majority of the Salaf (the pious predecessors), as previously mentioned. Ibn ’Uthaymīn, may Allāh have mercy upon him, said: «من سُوءِ الفَهْم؛ قولُ مَن نَسَبَ لشيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية أنه قال: (إذا أُطلِقَ الكفر؛ فإنما يُراد به: كفر أكبر)؛ مستدلاً بهذا القول على التكفير بآية {فَأُوْلَئكَ هُمُ الْكَفِرُونَ﴾ [المائدة ٤٤] مع أنه ليس في الآية أنَّ هذا هو (الكفر)! وأما القول الصحيح عن شيخ الإسلام؛ فهو: تفريقه رحمه الله بين (الكفر) المعرَّف بـ (أل) و(كفر) مُنكّراً. فأما الوَصْفُ فيصلح أن نقول فيه: (هؤلاء كافرون) أو (هؤلاء الكافرون)، بناءً على ما اتصفوا به من الكفر الذي لا يُخرج من الملة فَفَرْقٌ بين أن يُوصَف الفعل، وأن يُوصَف الفاعل» "It is a misunderstanding to claim that Sheikhul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: 'Whenever the term 'Kufr' is used, it always refers to major disbelief,' and to use this claim as proof for declaring someone a disbeliever based on the Āyah 'then it is those who are the disbelievers' [Al-Mā'idah 44], when the Āyah itself does not explicitly state that this is major disbelief! The correct view of Sheikhul Islam is that he made a distinction between 'Al-Kufr/الكفر' defined with 'أل' (the) and 'Kufr/كفر' in an indefinite form. When describing individuals, it is valid to say, 'They are disbelievers/كافرون' or 'They are the disbelievers/الكافرون' based on the type of disbelief they are characterised by, which may not necessarily expel them from the fold of Islam. There is a difference between describing the action and describing the doer." [Fitnah al-Takfir, p. 25, footnote 1] ---